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G.D. Spradlin, Prolific Character Actor, Dies at 90

G. D. Spradlin, whose experience as a corporate lawyer, independent oilman and rancher influenced his nuanced portrayals of authority figures in more than 70 films and television shows, including “The Godfather: Part II” and “Apocalypse Now,” died on Sunday at his cattle ranch in San Luis Obispo, Calif. He was 90.

His grandson Justin Demko confirmed the death.

Over a 30-year career, Mr. Spradlin became one of Hollywood’s most prolific character actors, using his dignified bearing to portray forceful characters like presidents, senators, preachers, doctors, military officers, athletic coaches, a sheriff, a police chief, a chief executive and a newspaper editor.

In “The Godfather: Part II” (1974) he played Pat Geary, the corrupt United States senator who defies the Mafia boss Michael Corleone, played by Al Pacino, telling Corleone he intends to “squeeze” him. As punishment, Geary later wakes up to find himself drenched in a dead prostitute’s blood.

Five years later, in “Apocalypse Now,” Mr. Spradlin played the Army general who sends Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) into the jungle to find and kill Marlon Brando’s Colonel Kurtz.

In other roles Mr. Spradlin was a ruthless football coach in “North Dallas Forty” (1979), the commandant of a military academy in “The Lords of Discipline” (1983), a minister in “Ed Wood” (1994) and an admiral in the 1988 television mini-series “War and Remembrance.”

Newsweek lauded his “sheer orneriness” in portraying Johnson, especially when putting down Kennedy. “That boy,” he growls to an aide, “is all hat and no cattle.”

Gervase Duan Spradlin was born on Aug. 31, 1920, in Pauls Valley, Okla., and grew up on a farm. A son of schoolteachers, he earned a degree in education from the University of Oklahoma in 1941 and then taught history. In World War II he served in the Army Air Forces in China as an air traffic controller. After his discharge he returned to the University of Oklahoma and earned a law degree in 1948.

He went to work for the Phillips Petroleum Company, first as head of its legal department in Caracas, Venezuela, then in Oklahoma City. In 1951, he teamed up with a geologist to drill their own oil wells. Mr. Spradlin made a fortune, retired in 1960 and spent a year and a half sailing in the Bahamas with his family.

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It wasn’t enough. “Being rich changes surprisingly little,” he said in an interview with The Los Angeles Times in 1967. “You still have to have an absorbing interest in life, something to do to make you feel alive.”

He ran Senator John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign in Oklahoma in 1960, and he himself ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Oklahoma City in 1965. That year he earned a master’s degree in Latin American studies from the University of Miami.

But the passion he longed for turned out to be acting. He developed an interest in it by watching his teenage daughter Wendy perform in local drama productions. Soon he was acting in plays himself. He moved to Los Angeles and began to audition. Fred Roos, a prominent casting director and producer, cast him in “I Spy,” “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.” and other television series. Mr. Roos was later co-producer of “The Godfather, Part II” and “Apocalypse Now.” Mr. Spradlin’s last film was “Dick” (1999), in which he played Ben Bradlee, editor of The Washington Post.

Mr. Spradlin’s wife of 56 years, the former Nell Hulsizer, died in 2000. He is survived by his wife, Frances Hendrickson; his daughters, Tamara Kelly and Wendy Spradlin; and five grandchildren.

His grandson said Mr. Spradlin had often remarked that the hardest job he ever had was going door to door selling life insurance when he was a law student. But he learned salesmanship skills that served him well in Hollywood: he would arrive for appointments with producers, directors and casting directors in an expensive suit, exuding polished charm. Receptionists would usher him in to their bosses under the impression that he must be a well-heeled investor, not just another eager actor.

Correction: July 28, 2011

Because of an editing error, an obituary on Wednesday about the actor G. D. Spradlin described incorrectly, in some editions, a scene from “The Godfather Part II,” in which Mr. Spradlin played a corrupt United States senator. In the scene, the senator threatens to “squeeze” the Mafia boss Michael Corleone, played by Al Pacino; Michael Corleone does not threaten the senator.

A version of this article appears in print on July 27, 2011, on Page B17 of the New York edition with the headline: G.D. Spradlin, 90; Portrayed Authority Figures. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe